TSG squander three leads
The line-up
Head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo made one change to the starting XI that suffered a 3-1 loss away to RB Leipzig. Umut Tohumcu started in place of Robert Skov.
The scenario
TSG went into Matchday 16 in seventh place in the table with 23 points, while SV Darmstadt 98 were bottom with nine points.
Moment of the match
The 80th minute: John Anthony Brooks was presented with a shooting opportunity from an unmarked position three metres out following a corner, but fired over the goal and missed the chance to make it 4-2. Darmstadt equalised for the third time five minutes later.
Number of the game: 20
TSG Hoffenheim scored for the 20th Bundesliga match in succession – an outright club record.
A curious celebration
The celebrations for the 2-1 goal: a little boy suddenly appeared on the pitch and joined in the goal celebrations with the TSG players. The moment naturally had to be captured with a selfie.
Outlook
It was the final competitive game of the calendar year for both teams. The TSG players will resume training on 2 January, before restarting the campaign away to FC Bayern Munich on 12 January.
Stats
Line-ups:
TSG Hoffenheim: Baumann – Ozan Kabak (Justvan, 90), Brooks, Vogt – Kadeřábek, Stach, Tohumcu (Grillitsch, 54) – Prömel (Becker, 90), Kramarić (Beier, 73), Bülter (Skov, 46) – Bebou
SV Darmstadt 98: Schuhen – Klarer, Gjasula (Ronstadt, 46), Isherwood (Maglica, 75) – Riedel, Bader (Torsiello, 84), Franjic (Müller, 75), Karic – Kempe (Honsak, 84) – Skarke, Pfeiffer
Goals: 1-0 Kramarić (pen., 14), 1-1 Pfeiffer (23), 2-1 Bebou (28), 2-2 Skarke (57), 3-2 Bebou (66), 3-3 Skarke (85)